About Us

Director

Jennifer Hanna, daughter of two teachers and the Director of the school, has over ten years of teaching experience in Montessori classrooms and almost twenty years of experience with children overall. She holds a B.A. in Education from the University of South Florida and a Master’s of Education from Loyola College in Baltimore. Jennifer was recruited to the Chicago area in 1999 to teach at Forest Bluff School, a recognized school in Lake Bluff, IL and worked for two years under the direction of Montessori thought leader, Paula Polk Lillard. Jennifer then moved to Countryside Montessori School in Northbrook, IL where for four years she directed a class of over 30 children and was trained extensively in music and art.

Founding

Having always wanted to start her own school, Jennifer opened Chicago Montessori with her husband and co-founder, Eric, in hopes that they could satisfy the growing need for educational choices and to add a new and positive educational institution to the city where they live and raise their children.

Beginnings

Chicago Montessori was incorporated in September of 2003 and opened its doors in September 2005 as the only school in Chicago to be accredited by the Association Montessori International (AMI) at the time. Chicago Montessori is unique in that it is the city's first all AMI school, and we are continuing this high level of accreditation with the completion of our Elementary school and opening of our Adolescent program.

Quaint

Many societies over times have noted that there seems to be a limit to the amount of meaningful relationships people can have — so we prefer to keep the community personable.

Friendly

A quaint environment means you have the ability to know a higher percentage of the people within the culture which your child belongs. We believe this makes for a more friendly environment.

Efficient

Not only is the Montessori method very efficient, but running a school can also be efficient when the focus is on the things that matter to the child: the teachers and the environment.

The Montessori Approach

I have studied the child. I have taken what the child has given me and expressed it and that is what is called the Montessori method.

DR. MARIA MONTESSORI

The Montessori approach offers a broad vision of education as an aid to life. It is designed to help children with their task of inner construction as they grow from childhood to maturity. It succeeds because it draws its principles from the natural development of the child. Its flexibility provides a matrix within which each individual child's inner directives freely guide the child toward wholesome growth.

Montessori classrooms provide a prepared environment where children are free to respond to their natural tendency to work. The children's innate passion for learning is encouraged by giving them opportunities to engage in spontaneous, purposeful activities with the guidance of a trained adult. Through their work, the children develop concentration and joyful self-discipline. Within a framework of order, the children progress at their own pace and rhythm, according to their individual capabilities.

Dr. Maria Montessori

She was a prominent thinker of her time. Nominated for three Nobel Peace Prizes, her supporters during the time included Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Helen Keller and Mahatma Gandhi.

Association Montessori International (AMI) was created in 1929 by Dr. Maria Montessori to oversee teacher training and to preserve the integrity of her life's work. This organization is looked at as the original, purest form of Montessori attainable and requires the most rigorous training for teachers and highest standards for schools - more than any Montessori derivative.

In 2007, the Montessori method celebrated 100 years of success. Although it has remained largely unchanged for one century, the teaching style is still regarded as a revolutionary approach to education. It is the only method of education that can be found on six continents. Children all over the world respond to the Montessori environment the same way they have for the last century because it is the only method of education designed with the child's true needs in mind.

Our AMI accreditation for children age 0-12 makes us one of only about 25 schools in the nation of its kind.